James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game Review
The Visuals
If there is anything that can save this game, it’s the jaw-dropping visuals for the graphic whores to chomp on. Your first steps into Pandora will be the most awe-inspiring moments that the game provides. Detailed foliage, various species of alien flora and fauna, rolling hills…I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said the game looks as good as Crysis. What truly sets apart the graphics is that the world of Pandora feels ‘alive.’ Also, if you are filthy rich by any chance, and own one of those fancy 3-D supporting monitors, Avatar: The Game is one of the first games to display in full stereoscopic 3-D. The amazing vistas do come at the cost of frequent frame rate dips.
At the other end of the spectrum, the animations are just downright dastardly. Being a movie tie-in game, it shows that Ubisoft did not have time to polish the game. Some animations, like the vine-climbing Na’vi animation, actually feel like placeholders. The same has to be said about the human characters, which look like blocky polygonal rejects.
The Sound
Voice acting throughout the game is downright comical…in a bad way. The actors show no signs of emotion or motivation while delivering their lines. For some strange reason, the Na’vi refer to you as a male, even if you have selected a female character.
The orchestral score, though, is worthy of mention and serves as the silver lining on the dark cloud.
The Multiplayer
Multiplayer runs the gamut of known game modes like deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag etc. It is extremely unbalanced with most of the games ending up in a Na’vi rout by the RDA. Almost every match I’ve joined has resulted in an RDA victory. The RDA team uses only the grenade launcher, as it is extremely over-powered and the Na’vi team is seen dodging all around the map, swinging their clubs on the rare occasions that they get past the barrage of grenade blasts.
It’s safe to say that Ubisoft put no thought into the multiplayer modes and added it so that they can write ‘Multiplayer’ at the back of the box. I’ll be surprised to find anyone playing Avatar’s multiplayer a month later.
Next Page – Final Words and Scorecard
